On Holy Thursday of this year, the website of the Polish Bishops’ Conference published a letter which included the following statement.
“Just as the Eucharist builds and sustains in us a priestly identity, so it is the place where many noble desires of young people are awakened. Every vocation, more or less, matures in the Eucharist. Its importance in the process of awakening and sustaining vocations is undeniable. Many young people have found their vocation precisely in the liturgical experience. It is enough to recall today the multitude of priests whose desire for priesthood was born in the ‘Light-Life Movement’ and in the work of the Servant of God Fr Franciszek Blachnicki. It was through constant attention to the liturgy, to its beauty and nobility, that many of us embarked on the path of priestly life. Today we can also see this in a certain fascination with liturgy celebrated in the Extraordinary Form. (our emphasis) It remains undeniable that many young people today are attracted to such attention to the beauty of the Eucharistic celebration. They seek Christ and want to discover Him in the Church. This desire must be re-read. The experience of recent years shows that young people need a depth of spiritual life and formation rooted in the liturgy. This sensitivity must be recognized and developed by us. Today we need to rediscover the importance of the pastoral care of the liturgical service, which is a place for discovering the beauty of life with Christ, as well as a place to mature in discovering and fulfilling one's vocation. Many young people read God’s invitation to live in the Church precisely in the liturgy. They need to be helped to mature into the fullness of their vocation. This maturation, however, cannot be limited to learning to minister, but must be integral, that is, encompassing the entire life of the young person.” (text in red; click image to enlarge.)
Thanks to our friends at the Facebook page Benedicamus Domino, which promotes the traditional rite in Poland, for bringing to our attention that almost immediately after Traditionis Custodes was issued on July 16th, this passage, which says nothing that everybody doesn’t already know to be true, was removed from the website of the Polish Bishops’ Conference. (We also thank Benedicamus Domino for the translation of the passage given above.)
The original text is still available on the website of the diocese of Warsaw-Praga. Of course, it is perfectly possible, and much to be hoped, that this was done without the knowledge of any Polish bishop; and further, that their Excellencies will follow the good example of so many other bishops, taking paternal and authentically pastoral care of the many young people who have come to know and serve the Lord by worshiping in the manner of their ancestors in the Faith. It is also very much to be hoped and prayed for that their Excellencies will not stand for their employees’ use of tactics reminiscent of those used by the political ideologies that did so much grievous harm to their noble nation in the 20th century.
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| On the left, a photograph of Joseph Stalin in the company of various apparatchiks of the Soviet Communist Party; to his left (our right) is Nikolay Yezhov, the former head of the secret police organization known as the NKVD, which would later evolve into the KGB. On the right, the same photograph altered to remove Yezhov after his fall from political grace, arrest, torture and execution in 1940. |
